Closure for fuel tanks



May 28, 1957 L. B. HUNT, JR 2,793,785

` -cLcsURE FOR FUEL TANKS Filed Jan. 2o, 1954 -2 Sheets-Sheet 1 /f MNM? ff ATTORNEY May 28, 1957 L B. HUNT, JR 2,793,785

cLosuRE: FOR FUEL TANKS Filed Jan. 20, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR ATTORNEY United States Patent O CLosURE FOR FUEL TANKS Letcher B. Hunt, Jr., Detroit, Mich., assignor to General Motors Corporation, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Delaware Application January 20, 1954, Serial No. 405,121'

Claims. (Cl. 22030.5)

should be convenient in use and should be permanently attached to the vehicle so as not to become lost. The mechanical design of the Closure should be such as 'to lend itself to modern automotive vehicle contours in 'the interest of aesthetic body appearance and yet meet the aforementioned requirements.

To these ends, an object of the present invention is to provide an improved closure for fuel tanks which, subsequent to a rotative motion imparted to it, automatically opens a fuel filler tube on such tanks.

Another' object is to provide a closure which automatically opens when a cover thereon is rotated and which subsequently and automatically resets itself for retaining its closed position upon being closed.

A feature of the invention is a closure arrangement Ain which rotation of a cover on its own .axis releases a valve from its position closing a'tiller tube and which includes means for automatically moving the valve and cover from their closed positions upon such release.

Another feature is a closure having a cover which is rotatable in one direction and on its own axis to release a valve from a holding means and which is automatically rotatable in the other `direction to reset the closure' `preparatory to subsequent closing.

These and other important features of the invention will now be described in detail in the specification .and then pointed out more particularly inthe .appended claims.

ln the drawings:

Fig. l is a plan View of a closure embodying thepresent invention shown installed on an automobile body, parts being broken away for clarity of illustration;

Fig. 2 is a sectional View ofthe closure taken along theline 2 2 in Fig. l showing the closure in closed position in full llines and in open position in broken lines;

Fig. 3 is a' sectional kView taken along line 43:-#3 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is .avplan view of certain details. of .the structure shown in Pig.`3', said view being taken substantially along line 4-4 of Fig. 2.

' vIn the drawings a support or rear deck inner panel10 of a vehicleis shown Yhaving, a top vwall $12 which engages a :portion of .a vehicle body 14.k Within ythe panel' 10 is mounted a. cup-shaped member 16 held in 'placeuby means of three annularly spaced studs (only one beingshown in the drawings). "Each of the studs 18 extends through aligned openings prouidedin flanges A2Dnof the cup member-16,.the wall 12, body 14. and an annular escutcheon ringLZl, An opening 22 lis Aformed in the wall 12. of :the panel and 'is arranged in registry with openings formed in the body 14 and the ring 20, these openings leading to the interior of the cup member 16. The base 24 of the 2,793,785 Patented May 28, 1957 ice cup .member 16 surrounds a filler tube 26 and is provided with an opening which snugly receives the iiller tube. Thetiller tube 26 is arranged as a means for charging fuelinto a tank located beneath the panel 10 and one end thereof extends upwardly into the cup 16 and its annular lipis doubled over as shown at 30 to form -a circular valve seat 32. The fuel tank is not shown in the drawings.

A base plate 34 is attached to the bottom of the cup 16 by means of three bolts 36, 38 and 40 and it is apertured to encompass the tube 26. Base plate 34 is provided with an extension 42 having two upstanding and parallel anges 44 and 46. A pin 48 is supported by these two flanges and two spacing washers 50 and 52 serve to center a latch member 54 midway the length of the pin. The latch member 54 is pivoted on the pin, a portion thereof extending upwardly and having a downwardly facing shoulder 56 thereon. The extreme end of `the extension 42 is flanged at 5S to provide a stop for the member 54.

Another extension 66 disposed at the other end of the base ,plate 34 is provided with upstanding and parallel flanges 62 and 64 for supporting a pivot pin 66. The flange 64 is substantially L-shapedas viewed in Fig. 1 as it provides a stop portion 68.

An air vent pipe for the fuel ltank is provided and is arranged to extend upwardly along one side of the tube 26 and then at a right angle into the cup 16 and to communicate through an opening 7-2 with ythe interior of the tube.

A sleeve member 80, when the closure is closed as viewed in Fig. 2, is substantially coaxial with the tube 26. This sleeve member is attached as by welding at 82 and 84 to an arcuate member 86 having a horizontal extension 90. The extension is provided with two upstanding and parallel ears '92 and 94 which are journaled on the pin 66 adjacent to the flanges 62 amd64, respectively. A stiifening web 96 is made integral with the arcuate member 86 and the horizontal extension 90.

, A resilient neoprene buffer member V100 is held in position on the horizontal extension 90 by three lfingers 1'02. .A coil spring 104 is mounted -on the pin 66 with one end'106 'extending downwardly through the horizontal extension 90 and lengaging the bottom side thereof. The other end 108 of the spring is arranged to Contact the stop ,portion 68.

A spring member 110 is riveted as at 112 to the cup member 16 and resiliently engages the latch .member 54 to urge the shoulder S6 of the latter towards the sleeve member 80.

A neoprene disc is arranged to engage the rounded valve seat 32 and is confined between a .metal disc 122 and a flanged disc 124. The disc 122 .is smaller than the interior vdiameter of the tube 26 and is held in assembled relation with the yneoprene disc 12.4) and the llanged disc 124 by means of a centralrivet 126. A coil spring 13) is confined between the hanged disc 124V fand a spring seat 132. VThe Vbottom end of the sleeve 80 is provided with aninwardly extending ange 134 to present an upwardly facing shoulder 136. This shoulder extends vbeneath the l margins of the flanged disc 124 but is formed with ample clearance around the t-ube 26.

An annular disc is arranged to surround the `upper end of the sleeve 80 which is .provided with three spaced tongues 142, 144 fand 146 extending inwardly over the outer margin of the spring seat 132. The upper edgeof the sleeve vd0 also bears three spaced and outwardly extending anges 150, 152 and 154 which extend .into an annular depressed portion 156 of disc 140.

A cover generally indicated at 160 comprises an inverted and ornamental cap 162 having two diagonally exisat/a opposed arms 164, 166 and also strengthening disc 170 which imparts rigidity to the cap. The disc bears three relatively large apertures 172, 174 and 176 which serve to reduce the Weight of the cap or cover. The disc 170 is attached to the cap 162 by means of three studs 180, 182 and 184 land nuts threaded thereon. These studs are conveniently made integral with the cap 162. Two machine screws 186 and 188 are also used in the positions shown in Fig. 3 to attach the disc 140 to the disc 170.

A striker member 200 is positioned to cooperate with the latch member 54 to form a means for holding the cover and valve in their closed positions. This member is attached to the underside' of the disc 140 by means of two studs 202 and 204.

The disc 170 is notched as at 206 to provideV a stop for the vertical portion of an L-shaped flange 208 which is integral with the sleeve 80 and extends into the opening 174. The ilange 208 is perforated as at 210 to receive one hooked end of an arcuate spring member 212. The other end of the spring member extends through an opening 214 in the disc 170.

A drain pipe 216 communicates with the bottom of the cup member 16 for the purpose of draining any fuel spilled into the cup, moisture or dust and causing the drainage to fall upon the ground.

From the `above description of the construction, the operation of the device is believed to be clear. However, it may be stated that if the cover 160, while positioned as shown in full lines in Fig. 2, is rotated against resistance of the spring 212, the shoulder of the disc 170 in the recess 206 will leave the flange 208 and the shoulder on the striker 200 will be displaced from beneath the shoulder 56 of the latch member 54. Tension in the coil spring 104 will then cause the sleeve 80 together with the cover 160 and the neoprene sealing disc 120 to move upwardly about the pin 66 as a center. Upon manual release of the cover 160 the spring 212 will reverse the direction of the previous rotation and position the striker 200 so that when the cover is subsequently slammed shut the latch mechanism will again come into operation and hold the neoprene disc 120 in yielding engagement with the end of the tube 26 to sealingly close the latter.

When the closure is thrown open the annular shoulder 136 in the sleeve 80 retains the spring 130 as well as the valve parts in their assembled relation with respect to the cover. The butter member 100 is so placed as to strike the edge of the panel surrounding the opening 22 and cushions the shock which otherwise would be encountered.

Latching pressure normal to the surface of the shoulder 56 is provided by the compressive force of the spring 130, |and the recess 206 determines the radial locked position of the closure.

I claim:

1. A closure for a fuel tank filler tube located contiguous to an opening larger than said tube formed in the wall of a support, said closure comprising a cup member with its bottom adapted to surround and snugly engage the outside of said tube and having ia flanged wall adapted to be attached to said support, a sleeve member pivotally mounted on pivot means having an axis at one side of said cup, a cover rotatably mounted on said sleeve, holding means connecting said cover and cup and releasable upon rotation of the said cover with respect to the sleeve, a valve retained within said sleeve and adapted resiliently to close the end of said tube, and a spring connecting said sleeve and cover to resist said rotation and adapted to urge said cover to a predetermined position relative to said sleeve and holding means.

2. A closure for a fuel tank iiller tube located contiguous to an opening formed in the wall of 'a support, said closure comprising a cup member adapted to engage and to open said valve by pivoting said sleeve member about said pivot means upon rotation of said cover, and a spring connecting said sleeve member and cover and resisting said cover rotation.

3. A closure for a fuel tank ller tube located contiguous to an opening larger than said tube formed in the wall of a support, said closure comprising a cup with its bottom adapted to surround and engage said tube and having a wall to be attached to said support, a sleeve member mounted on pivot means within said cup and at one side of said cup, a cover rotatively mounted on said sleeve, said cover being larger than said opening to conceal the same, holding means connecting said cover and cup and releasable upon rotation of the said cover with respect to said sleeve, a resiliently mounted valve retained within said sleeve and adapted to close the end of said tube, and a spring connecting said sleeve and cover and resisting said cover rotation.

4. A closure comprising a support yand a fuel tank filler tube accessible by way of an opening formed in the wall of said support, an escutcheon ring attached to the outside of said support and surrounding said opening, a cup member surrounding and engaging the outside of said tube and attached to said support, a sleeve member mounted on pivot means located at one side of said tube and within said cup member, a cover mounted on said sleeve and being rotatable relative to the latter, said cover being arranged to overlap said escutcheon ring to cover said opening, holding means connecting said cover and cup and releasable upon rotation of the said cover with respect to the said sleeve in a plane substantially parallel with said escutcheon plate, ya valve retained within said sleeve and adapted resiliently to close the end of said tube, and a spring connecting said sleeve and cover and resisting said cover rotation on said sleeve.

5. A closure for a fuel tank iiller tube accessible by way of an opening in the wall of a support such as a tank, said closure comprising a cup member with an opening in its bottom adapted snugly to receive said tube, said member extending outwardly for joinder to said wall, a sleeve member extending into said cup, pivot means including a pivot pin at one side of said cup connecting the said sleeve member thereto for movement of the latter out of said cup, a cover overlying said sleeve and rotatable thereon in a plane parallel with said pin, a latch striker atxed to saidcover to rotate therewith and spaced from said pivot means, a latch associated with said cup member to cooperate with said striker, and a spring loaded valve mounted within said sleeve and arranged resiliently to face the said bottom whereby it may seal the end of said tube when said latch striker and latch are engaged.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,909,554 Stant May 16, 1933 2,663,447 Westcott Dec. 26, 1948 2,505,637 Chase Apr. 25, 1950 2,582,109 De Fee Jan. 8, 1952 2,682,968 Crowe July 6, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS 474,853 Great Britain Nov. 9, 1937 152,712 Australia Aug. 5, 1953 

